My project for the day was to paint a door on the property that is east facing and tends to get a lot of sun in the morning, and it gets so hot that the door expands and it’s impossible to open. So I took the door off the hinges, took the thing out to the workshop, and took the belt sander to the paint. Once the paint was off and I used the air compressor to get the dust shavings off the thing, I painted it with a special gloss that is anti-heating and UV-reflective.

As I was waiting for the paint to dry, I was chanting Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum and just kinda enjoying the feeling of the emotion and suddenly appears the monk – Orange robes, sunglasses, alms bowl in hand. He appeared suddenly from the desert and I said “Hello” and he said “Hello” and I said “You must be the monk” and he laughed and said “You must be Sam”.

Was it just a beautiful little coincidence that I was chanting, he recognized the mantra, and me singing the words was his first contact with me? He was returning from the caves and probably hadn’t seen anyone in weeks, and I am happy that the first sign of another human he heard must have been a welcome, familiar refuge.

We had a nice little chat about the drive and the center and our previous hike, and the chickens, among other things, and we agreed to continue chatting over lunch.

Interactions like this and the type of people I am now surrounded with- makes me sure to my bones that I am exactly in the right place.